Hot stick attachment

ABSTRACT

An attachment is provided for &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;hot sticks&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; of the type used for raising or lowering hot lines or power lines used for transmitting high voltage current. To facilitate the engagement, a radially projecting arm is provided for hooking the attachment over the wire. A pair of upwardly and downwardly inclined arms are attached to the attachment in angularly spaced relation to the radial arm. By twisting the pole about its axis, the wire may be engaged between the ends of the inclined ends to permit the line to be raised and lowered.

United States Patent 1 1.

Homeier [4 1 Feb. 18,1975

[ HOT STICK ATTACHMENT 76] inventor: Howard A. Homeier, 625 1st. St.,

Kenyon, Minn. 55496 221 Filed: Jan. 14,1974

2 1 App1.No.:433,073

[52] u.s. c| 294/1912 [51] lnt.Cl. A47H3/06 [58] Field of Search 294/1R, 2, 15, 17, 19 R,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,301,012' 4/1919 Simonson294/19 R 2,096,244 10/1937 Heinrich 294/19 RX 2,484,278 10/1949 Fisher.[140/117X 3,433,521 3/1969 Lasko 294/19 R Primary Examiner Evon C.Blunk Assistant ExaminerJohnny D. Cherry 57 ABSTRACT An attachment isprovided for hot sticks of the type used for raising or lowering hotlines or power lines usedfor transmitting high voltage current. Tofacilitate the engagement, a-radiaily projecting arm is proided forhooking the attachment over the wire. A

pair of upwardly and downwardly inclined arms-are attached to theattachment in angularly spaced rela tion to the radial arm. By twistingthe pole about its axis, the wire may be engaged between the ends of theinclined ends to permit the line to be raised and lowered.

7 Claims, 7Drawing Figures 1 nor STICK ATTACHMENT This invention relatesto an improvement in Hot Stick Attachment and deals particularly withanatta'chmentor bracket secured to the upper end of a hot stick or poleby means of which a hot line, such as a wire, power line or cable may beengaged for manipulation of the wire in a desired'direction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Hot Sticks are usually provided with somesort of an attachment at their upper ends so that a wire, hot line orcable may be engaged for raising, lowering, or manipulating the wire ina suitable direction. These attachments are usually difficult to attachto the wire. Some such devices require that the attachment be moved inan axial direction against the wire to engage the wire. Otherattachments include hook-shaped projections in which the wire may beengaged. These previous attachments or brackets take considerable skillto operate. While the hot sticks are normally adjustable in length, theyareusually quite long and are accordingly somewhat flexible.Accordingly, the upper ends of the hot sticks tend to sway in onedirection or another during the wire attaching process. As a result,substantial skill is required in the operation. This is particularlytrue in windy weather where the wind tends to flex both the hot stickand the wire.

SUMMARY or THE INVENTION The present hot stick attachment is attached tothe upper end of the hot stick by any suitable means. For example, thelower end of the attachment may be axially socketed to accommodate theupper end of the hot stick. If desired, the attachment may be madeincluding an upperv portion and a lower portion, both portions havingcontacting engagement portions. The lower portion is attachedto theupper end of the hot stick, and the upper portion may be pivotallyconnected to the lower portion by means of a pivot bolt extendingaxially through the two attachment portions to hold the portions in adesired angular relationship. Usually, the upper and lower attachmentportions include bearing plates having teeth which extend radially fromthe axis of the pivot, and which may be interengaged to hold the twoattachment portions at a desired angle. The present invention dealsprimarily with the upper portion of the hot stick attachment. Wherementioned in the specification, the axis of the attachment is meant todescribe the axis of the upper portion of the attachment.

An object of the present invention lies in the provision of an arm whichextends radially from the upper portion of the attachment on a planenormal to axis thereof. The upper portion of the attachment'is alsoprovided with a pair of opposed inclined arms which are in a commonplane through the axis of the upper portion of the attachment. Theradially extending arm lies in a first vertical plane through the axisof the upper attachment portion. The inclined arms preferably lie in asecond plane through the axis of the upper attachment portion which isin angularly spaced relation to the first plane. With this arran'gment,the wire may be engaged with the first or radially extending arm withoutinterferance by the inclined arms" when the hot stick is in one angularposition. The wire may be engaged between the inclined arms when the hotstick is rotated into another angular position.

Another feature of the present invention A feature of the presentinvention resides in the fact that the inclined arms which lie in acommon plane terminate in spaced relation to provide a gap between theends thereof. This gap is slightly below the lower surface of theradially extending arm. This is of importance in engaging-the attachmentwith a wire or the like.

lies in the fact that the attachment may be engaged with the wire or hotline by resting the hot stick attachment against the wire while theradial extending arm is'above the level of the wire. By lowering the hotstick, the'radial arm may be positioned to rest against the uppersurface of the wire. By twisting the hot stick about its axis, the wiremay be guided through the gap between the inclined arms. When thusrotated, the wire is engaged between the inclined arms and may beraised, lowered or otherwise moved.

While the arms which have been described as inclined arms may bestraight and inclined in opposite direction from the attachment asillustrated in the drawing. These inclined arms may comprise curved orhook-shaped arms. The term inclined arms is used to describe opposedarms which terminate in spaced relation to form the. gap therebetween. v

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention willbe more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification andclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of thehot line attachment, showing the general construction thereof.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the attachment when engaged with awire or hot line and acting to lower the wire.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the upper portion of the attachmentwith the inclined arms projecting laterally from the attachment.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the radial arm extendinglaterally from the attachment.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the upper portion of the attachmentshowing'the radially extending arm in substantially right angularrelation to the inclined arms.

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of the attachments showing the mannerin.which the line may be elevated by the lower inclined arm of the pair.

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of a modified form of inclined arms.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The attachment in its entiretyincludes an upper and lower portion which are pivotally connectedtogether. As indicated in FIG. 2 of the drawings, the lower portion 10is axially socketed at 11 to accommodate the upper end of a hot stick 12which is not shown in its entirety in the drawings. The upper end of thelower portion includes an arcuate bearing plate 13 provided with teeth14 which extend in a radial direction from the center of arcuation ofthe plate 13. The upper attachment portion 15 is provided at its lowerextremity with a cooperable bearing plate 16 which also is arcuate inform and has teeth 17 thereupon which extend radially from the axisofarcuation of this plate. The two bearing plates 13 and 16 includeaxial apertures 19 therethrough in aligned relation. A bolt 20 extendsthrough the apertures 19 and forms a pivot between the upper 3 and lowerportions. A wing nut 21 is threaded onto the bolt 20 to clamp thebearing plates in an adjusting angled relationship.

The upper attachment portion 15 has a shank which is generallycylindrical in form and includes a first arm 22 which lies in a planenormal to the axis of the shank 15 which is indicated by the broken line23. As indicated in FIG. of the drawings, the radial arm 22 also lies ina plane extending through the axis of the shank I5 and extending throughthe radial arm, the position of this plane being indicated by the brokenline 24 in FIG. 5 of the drawings. A pair of opposed inclined arms aresecured to the shank 15, a first inclined'arm inclining in outwardly anddownwardly inclined relation therefrom as indicated at 26 in thedrawings. A second inclined arm 27 inclines outwardly and upwardly fromthe shank The inclined arms 26 and 27 are located in a second planethrough the axis of the shank l5 and indicated by the broken'line 27.The planes 24 and 27 are in right angular relation, or 90 apart. Thepurpose of the angular adjustment between the upper and lower portionsof the attachment is so that the upper portion may more readily engageagainst the wire 29 which may comprise a high voltage power -line or thelike.

The operation of the device is substantially as follows. Theupperportion of the hot stick or attachment may be rested against theline 29 with the radially extending arm 22 overlying the wire. The hotstick may be lowered until the arm 22 rests upon the wire 29. This is asimple operation, due to the fact that the attachment A is restingagainst the line 29. 7

When the radial arm 22 is resting upon the wire, the hot stick may berotated about its axis through an angle of about 90. During thisrotation, the wire 29 passes through the gap 30 between the lowerextremity of'the upper inclined arm 26 and the upper extremity of thelower inclined arm 27. When the rotation of the hot stick is complete,the wire slips out of engagement with the radial arm 22 to extendbetween the inclined arms 26 and 27. The wire 29 may be lowered bymoving the hot stick downwardly, the inclined arm 26 engaging the wireto move it downwardly as indicated in FIG. 2 of the drawings. The wire29 may be raised by moving the hot stick upwardly to engage the wire 29with the lower inclined arm 27. The wire 29 may also be moved laterallyby swinging the hot stick in a lateral direction.

In the drawings 'the inclined arms 26 and 27 are straight throughouttheir length. As indicated in FIG. 7 of the drawings, the arms may becurved so that the lower extremities thereof are generally parallel tothe axis of the upper portion of the attachment. The lower end of theupper inclined arm 26 terminates in spaced relation to the upper end ofthe opposed inclined arm 27' so as to provide a gap 30' between thetwo'incli'ned arms. The hook-shaped form of the inclined arm may serveto simplify the lateral positioning of the wire 29.

In accordance withthe Patent Statutes, I have described the principlesof construction and operation of my invention in HOT STICK ATTACHMENT,and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodi ment thereof, Idesire to have it understood that changes may be made withinthe scope ofthe following specification and claims without departing from the spiritof my invention.

I claim:

I. An attachment for the upper end of a hot stick including:'

a first arm projecting radially from the attachment on a first planethrough the axis of the attachment.

a pair of inclined arms projecting from the hot stick attachment on asecond plane through the axis of said attachment in angularly spacedrelation'from said first plane,

said second arms including a first arm projecting in outwardly anddownwardly extending relation and a second armin outwardly and upwardlyinclined relation from said attachment to terminate in spaced relationto provide a gap between the extremities of said inclined arms,

, said gap being slightly below a third plane substantially normal tothe axis of said attachment and through the axis of said radiallyprojecting first arm, whereby said hot stick may be rested against awire to be engaged with said first arm above said wire and theattachment may be lowered until the radial first arm rests upon thewire, and the hot stick may be turned about its axis until said wireextends through said gap.

2. The attachment described in claim 1 and including a lower portionsecured to the upper extremity of said hot stick, an upper portion towhich said arms are secured,-and a pivot extending through said upperand lower.por tions on an axis extending normally through the axesofsaid supper and lower portions whereby said upper and lower portions maybe angularly adjusted.

3. The structure of claim 2 in which said first pivot comprises a boltfor clamping said upper and lower attachment portions in an adjustedangular position.

4. The structure of claim 2 and in which the lower portion of saidattachment includes an axial socket for accommodating the upper end ofsaid, hot stick.

arms are generally hook-shaped.

1. An attachment for the upper end of a hot stick including: a first arm projecting radially from the attachment on a first plane through the axis of the attachment, a pair of inclined arms projecting from the hot stick attachment on a second plane through the axis of said attachment in angularly spaced relation from said first plane, said second arms including a first arm projecting in outwardly and downwardly extending relation and a second arm in outwardly and upwardly inclined relation from said attachment to terminate in spaced relation to provide a gap between the extremities of said inclined arms, said gap being slightly below a third plane substantially normal to the axis of said attachment and through the axis of said radially projecting first arm, whereby said hot stick may be rested against wire to be engaged with said first arm above said wire and the attachment may be lowered until the radial first arm rests upon the wire, And the hot stick may be turned about its axis until said wire extends through said gap.
 2. The attachment described in claim 1 and including a lower portion secured to the upper extremity of said hot stick, an upper portion to which said arms are secured, and a pivot extending through said upper and lower portions on an axis extending normally through the axes of said supper and lower portions whereby said upper and lower portions may be angularly adjusted.
 3. The structure of claim 2 in which said first pivot comprises a bolt for clamping said upper and lower attachment portions in an adjusted angular position.
 4. The structure of claim 2 and in which the lower portion of said attachment includes an axial socket for accommodating the upper end of said hot stick.
 5. The structure of claim 1 and including an axial socket in the lower end of said attachment for accommodating the upper end of said hot stick.
 6. The structure of claim 1 and in which said inclined arms are substantially straight.
 7. The structure of claim 1 in which said inclined arms are generally hook-shaped. 